NEWS

An Iowa Falls man accused of threatening judges is being held without bail. Prosecutors say 35-year-old Andre Lafontaine left a threatening phone message at a Department of Justice office in Washington on Monday.

Governor Terry Branstad has appointed a new chief of staff. Thirty-two-year-old Michael Bousselot, current legal counsel for the governor's office, will begin his new role on August 8th. The announcement Thursday comes one day after current chief of staff Matt Hinch said he was resigning from the top post for a career in the private sector.

A young magician will have to tweak his act when he competes in an Iowa State Fair talent show next month. Michael Osman can't use his pet doves because state agriculture officials have barred live bird exhibitions due to the bird flu. Osman says he's been practicing with fish instead.

Authorities say a man leading state troopers on a chase in central Iowa reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour before his vehicle flew off the road and into an auto auction lot. The driver of the vehicle, whose name has not been released, survived the crash and was taken to a local hospital with a head injury.

Federal authorities believe a man suspected of robbing a credit union in Iowa with an assault rifle is the same man suspected of robbing banks in several states. The FBI says the "AK-47 Bandit" robbed banks in California, Idaho and Washington in 2012 and a bank in Nebraska in 2014. Authorities say a man entered the Iowa Heartland Credit Union in Mason City on Tuesday wearing a black ski mask.

The author of the motion picture inspiring novel "The Bridges of Madison County" has donated an original manuscript of the best seller to the University of Northern Iowa. Robert James Waller's manuscript will be housed in a special collection at his alma mater.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump opened an attack Saturday on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, accusing the leader in recent polls in early-voting Iowa of running his state into financial trouble. Spurred on by a raucous audience of more than 1,000 at an Oskaloosa, Iowa high school, Trump said Walker has an advantage in Iowa because he's from a neighboring state but that the edge is undeserved because Walker has mismanaged Wisconsin's budget.

A former Iowa small town city clerk has been sentenced for embezzling over $32,000.

According to Connie Haughey of the Tama County Attorney’s Office, 45-year-old Nanci Kay Parizek was sentenced on Thursday to five years of probation for stealing money from the City of Vining. Haughey said that if Parizek chooses to violate her probation, she could face up to 15 years in prison. The former Vining city clerk pled guilty back in April to charges of Theft in the First Degree and Felonious Misconduct In Office. The small town of Vining, Iowa is located east of Toledo. Its population in 2013 was 50, according to the United States Census Bureau.

A press release from the Tama County Attorney’s Office noted that the Honorable Judge Sean McPartland granted suspended sentences for Parizek. She has also been ordered to pay over $8,600 back to the city. By law, Parizek won’t have to pay the rest of Vining’s losses, as an insurer will cover the inbalance.

Mayor of Vining George Bazal and City Council Member Fred Vore asked the court to incarcerate Parizek. She stole a grand total of $32,243.27 from the City of Vining over a five to six year period. The city has a budget of just $20,000 a year. The release stated that road improvements and other city projects were not undertaken because of a shortage of funds. Bazal, along with Vore, testified that Parizek seemed nervous when she was questioned about city money during council meetings.

A Dubuque woman says she has a state cannabis card allowing her to give an oil extracted from marijuana to her son, but she's not allowed to do so in his care center. Instead, Jennifer McFadden says she gives the oil to her 12-year-old son, who has severe epilepsy, twice a day in the facility's parking lot. She says the agency which operates the center says it can't allow the oil into the facility. She says the agency told her that federal authorities still consider it a strictly controlled marijuana product.

About 100 people were evacuated safely when a fire broke out on a paddle wheel boat on Clear Lake. The fire was reported Thursday morning, just after the Lady of the Lake cruise ship had docked. About 100 people, including 27 from a care center, were evacuated to shore.

An Iowa court says people can drink alcohol in their cars as long as they're parked on private property. The Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday a state law banning open alcohol containers in vehicles doesn't apply to people parked in private lots or driveways.

A Waterloo man who was shot by police is suing the city and two police officers in federal court. Jovan Webb was shot in April after police say he drove toward an officer following a disturbance at a nightclub. Webb denies that and says police used excessive force. A city attorney says the city will "vigorously" defend itself.

Scientists have developed a vaccine strain that is 100 percent effective in protecting chickens from bird flu and testing is underway to see if it protects turkeys. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the House Agriculture Committee at a hearing on Wednesday that the agency plans to quickly license it for widespread production if it is effective for turkeys. The USDA is seeking federal funding to stockpile vaccine nationally.

Iowa highway crews had to plow a bridge crossing the Mississippi River because of ankle-deep mayflies that swarmed the span. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports the insects on Saturday night swarmed to the Savannah-Sabula bridge, connecting Iowa and Illinois. The bugs covered the bridge so thickly, and caused such slick conditions, that crews plowed the bugs off the lanes and applied sand for traction.

Iowa's largest newspaper says Donald Trump should get out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The Des Moines Register editorial says Trump is unfit to hold office or stand on the same stage as his Republican opponents. Tuesday in South Carolina, Trump read out the cellphone number of fellow candidate Lindsey Graham.

Iowa's governor has ordered that flags be lowered to half-staff at sites throughout the state in honor of the five servicemen killed last week in Tennessee. Gov. Terry Branstad called for the state-controlled flags to be lowered from Tuesday through Monday. President Barack Obama has ordered flags flown at federal buildings and grounds to be lowered to half-staff until sunset Saturday. The action honors the four Marines and one Navy sailor killed in a shooting last week in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

One of the first Iowa turkey farms to get bird flu is getting nearing the time at which birds can be restocked but most of the 77 farms affected are still weeks away from introduction of new flocks. Iowa Department of Agriculture officials say all farms have been cleared of dead chickens and turkeys but disposal of manure, compost and other waste continued at 18 farms. All birds that died or were euthanized have been incinerated, buried or taken to landfills.

Gov. Terry Branstad is asking the Iowa National Guard to review security at its facilities in Iowa, in the wake of last week's shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Branstad asked Iowa National Guard Maj. Gen Timothy Orr to assess the protection for those working at the Guard's military facilities and recruitment sites. The Republican governor also plans to ask the federal government to review the protections at all military facilities.

A jury has convicted former lottery security official Eddie Tipton of fraud. The Norwalk man accused of rigging a Hot Lotto game so he could win a $14 million jackpot in 2010 now faces up to 10 years in prison. He'll be sentenced in September. His lawyer is planning an appeal.

Des Moines police say officers have arrested a man in connection with a shooting downtown just blocks west of the Des Moines River. Reports of shots fired came in early Saturday, just after midnight. Responding officers say they heard three to six shots fired. No one was injured in the shooting. The suspect's name has not yet been released.

Authorities say two people participating in an annual bike ride across Iowa were struck and injured by an intoxicated driver.

According to police, Bruce and Barbara Blair of Hudson, Wisconsin, were riding a tandem bike early Sunday morning as part of The Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa — or RAGBRAI— when they were struck by 36-year-old Charryse Chavez of Sioux City.

The poultry farmers who lost millions of chickens and turkeys to the bird flu this spring are facing an uncertain future.The farmers aren't sure when federal officials will allow them to start rebuilding their flocks or whether enough birds will be available. Dave Rettig is president of Rembrandt Foods in Spirit Lake, Iowa, which lost 8 million egg-laying hens. Rettig says the disease decimated the egg industry and who knows if the disease will return in the fall when birds migrate again.

The Humane Society of the United States says a USDA proposal to respond to a future outbreak of bird flu by shutting off ventilation systems to barns instead of gassing or using foam to suffocate the birds is gruesome. In response, the U.S. Department ofAgriculture says it considers many factors when determining ways to euthanize large numbers of animals during a disease outbreak.

Attorneys for a former lottery worker accused of rigging a Hot Lotto game have rested their case in the man's fraud trial. The defense for 52-year-old Eddie Tipton presented testimony Thursday for about an hour before resting their case. Closing arguments are scheduled on Friday.

Police have arrested a teenager in connection with a fatal shooting last month at a Des Moines home. The 17-year-old boy is accused of shooting 16-year-old Terry Harris during a robbery. Investigators say Harris and the suspect knew each other.

A collision of a dump truck and car in Waterloo left one man dead and three people injured. The crash happened Tuesday when a dump truck driven by 66-year-old Robert Stedman, of Waterloo, apparently ran a stop sign. The truck, which was loaded with gravel, pulled into the path of a car.

A former lottery security chief testifying at his ex-coworker's fraud trial over a Hot Lotto winning ticket says the top threat to any lottery's integrity can be its own employees. The Des Moines Register reports Ed Stefan, a former chief security officer for the Urbandale-based Multi-State Lottery Association, says expert information technology employees with ill intentions can be dangerous. Stefan spoke Wednesday during the trial of 52-year-old Eddie Tipton, who faces two counts of fraud.

Van Meter city officials are scrapping plans to let people pay $5 for a chance to shock one of them with a stun gun. The ACLU and other groups have criticized the raffle, which is intended as a police department fundraiser. Officials say they'll let the winner shoot a target instead.

A judge has dismissed harassment charges that were filed against a Burlington woman after she admitted sending cow manure to a neighbor. Des Moines County Attorney Amy Beavers filed a motion to dismiss criminal harassment charges against Kim Capdevilia. The charges were filed after Capdevilia acknowledged to Burlington police that she paid a company to send the manure to her neighbor in December. The action was prompted by a dispute over a barking dog.